Honoring November 25 in Italy + My Italian Winter Table Recipe E-Book
Flavor of Italy podcast
Every week on the Flavor of Italy Podcast, we explore the food, wine, history, landscapes, and everyday stories that shape life in Italy. But every now and then, a moment calls for reflection — and today is one of those days. Because today, Tuesday, November 25, is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. It’s a global day of awareness and remembrance, but here in Italy it carries deep cultural, social, and historical significance. And yet this week is also Thanksgiving week — a time of cooking, gathering, connection, and gratitude, especially for my...
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Homestyle Farm-to-Table Pig Butchering in the Heart of Northern Tuscany
Flavor of Italy podcast
This episode is a special re-release of one of my most engaging and talked-about podcast conversations ever—an unforgettable look into true farm-to-table life in northern Tuscany. James Martin brings to life one of his richest memories: a homestyle pig butchering carried out with his dear friend Armando in the most unassuming of places—Armando’s mother’s garage. Armando has since passed away, but the spirit of this story, and the tradition it captures, lives on as one of James’s best. James describes how he, Armando, and a handful of local men gathered at dawn, working...
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Italianish by Danny Freeman
Flavor of Italy podcast
If you’ve ever wondered what happens when classic Italian-American comfort food intersects with modern creativity, look no further than Italianish by Danny Freeman. The term Italianish perfectly captures what Danny stands for: dishes rooted in Italian and Italian-American traditions but expressed with a playful, contemporary twist. His food is not bound by rules but inspired by heritage, simplicity, and joy.
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Choosing the Right Wine Glass Shape this Holiday Season
Flavor of Italy podcast
The shape of your wine glass isn’t just decorative—it actively affects aroma, taste, texture, and even how your guests perceive the wine. This year, make sure that when the cork pops and the wine pours, you’re not just enjoying the bottles—you’re enhancing the moment by choosing the right wine glass shape. This fun and insightful podcast conversation - (and video soon to be on the Flavor of Italy YouTube channel) - with sommelier and Italian wine expert Cynthia Chaplin, shares the key take-aways so your table shines and your sip delivers with just the right glass this holiday...
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Red Sauce: How Italian Food Became American
Flavor of Italy podcast
There’s something deeply comforting about a bowl of pasta drenched in red sauce. That rich tomato-based goodness—whether spiked with garlic and herbs or served with hearty meatballs—is so ingrained in the American dining experience that it’s easy to assume it came straight from Italy. But the story is far more fascinating. Understanding red sauce means understanding the immigrant story. Italian-American food tells a tale of adaptation, resilience, and cultural pride. It’s a cuisine shaped by memory—by what immigrants brought with them, what they left behind, and what they built...
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Bari, the Heart of Puglia
Flavor of Italy podcast
The true heart of the Puglia region is Bari—a vibrant, living city that perfectly embodies Puglia’s soul. Check out all the things to do in Bari Puglia! When you think of Puglia, the first images that come to mind might be whitewashed hill towns, centuries-old olive trees, turquoise seas, and meals that seem to stretch blissfully into the afternoon. But the true heart of the region is Bari—a vibrant, living city that perfectly embodies Puglia’s soul. In this week’s Flavor of Italy podcast, I’m taking you to Bari: the capital of Puglia, a city of fishermen and pasta makers, sea...
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Italian Heritage Tours
Flavor of Italy podcast
Exploring one’s roots can be one of the most meaningful journeys of a lifetime, and for Italian Americans, Italian heritage tours offer a chance to connect with family history, rediscover ancestral towns, and experience the culture of Italy in an intimate way. In my recent Flavor of Italy podcast episode, I spoke with Cherrye Moore, founder of My Bella Vita Travel, who has been helping Italian Americans reconnect with their past for nearly two decades. What makes Italian heritage tours unique is the emotional depth of the experience. Many travelers embark on these journeys in honor of...
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How to Move to Italy - Meet Thea Duncan!
Flavor of Italy podcast
Italy has a way of getting under your skin. In this episode of the Flavor of Italy podcast, I chatted with Thea Duncan—the Milan-based American behind Doing Italy—to talk about how to move to Italy in 2025 without losing your sanity (or your savings). If you’ve been dreaming about starting a new life here, this guide distills the essentials from our conversation into one practical roadmap.
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Sicilian Avocados: Sicily’s New Green Gold
Flavor of Italy podcast
When most people think of Sicily, images of citrus spring to mind: lemons, oranges, mandarins. For centuries these fruits defined the island’s agricultural identity. Even Sicilian ceramics that often overflow with lemons and blood oranges. But today, something unexpected is ripening under the Sicilian sun: avocados. This isn’t the first time Italy has embraced an outsider and eventually made it feel essential. Tomatoes were once considered poisonous, corn and potatoes were foreign intruders, and citrus itself was introduced to Sicily by the Arabs in the Middle Ages. Over time, all of these...
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Pantelleria Island, off the coast of Sicily
Flavor of Italy podcast
Pantelleria has a way of pulling very different lives into the same orbit. This wind-brushed crescent of volcanic rock in the Mediterranean sits closer to Tunisia than to Sicily, and its landscape of black stone terraces, dammusi homes, and low, bowl-trained vines shapes everything from architecture to what ends up on the plate. In this post I’m weaving together two lives that touched Pantelleria—Giorgio Armani and Ugo Ponzi—and the island’s essential foods and wines that speak its language of restraint and character.
info_outlineIn Atina, in the mountainous heart of Lazio, far from Rome's bustling piazzas and tourist crowds, a young girl claims to have seen the Madonna (a Marian Apparition). Her story, quiet yet profound, forms the core of Broken Madonna, the debut novel by Anna Lucia. The book explores one of the most mysterious and emotionally charged phenomena in Catholic tradition: the Marian apparition.
A Marian apparition is said to occur when the Virgin Mary appears to an individual or group, often children, conveying messages of faith, hope, or warning. Some of the most famous include Lourdes in France and Fatima in Portugal. But in Broken Madonna, Maria Lucia has rooted her fictional account in a lesser-known but deeply personal setting: the post-war mountain village of Atina, nestled in the Ciociaria area of Lazio.